Archive for July, 2013

The tour is over.
I’m sure I’ll discover it on my TiVo during a cold dark week in December.
I will say that even in my bat-cave, The performance of Nairo Quintana cannot be overlooked.
Muy Bueno Mi hijo.
And if you can’t hablo con Yo, just look at THIS.

In equally exciting news, its time for a Dharma Wheels Cyclery Team Kit order.
The company that is making the stuff is Voler – knows for their high quality and unlow price. I will say this….the quality is 100% worth the price.Here is the link….

http://www.voler.com/custom/ordering/li/3596

Here is a sample image of the jersey….

Monday, August 5th is when the carnival folds up friends. Order early and often.

In other fun news, it seems that Surly has re-introduced the Instigator….and by introduced, I imagine it went like this at a family Christmas party “Billy, you remember your creepy Alcoholic uncle Frank…..he’s been away for a while and really wanted to say hi to you today.”

By the way Ben is neither my uncle…..or related to me.

Today is the Meet your maker ride in NorCal….I’m sure Sean will be there….

And my man Paul Price.

In personal news, I’d like to send our best wishes to the Pitkin family….Here is Bo with a cast of Ally’s baby bump….or in her case, twins bump.

Are you ready to party?
Lets start out by announcing the 2014 Kona lineup has been announced to the public.
See it HERE
You can also see Barry Wicks here…..who got 3rd in the Crushar in the Tushar race on Saturday.
I know that course……10,000 feet of climbing….I know it.
But lets get to the Kona line. Next month I will journey to Bellingham to take part in the Kona Launch
You remember the 2013 Kona Launch….dont you?
2014 Looks nice. Glad to see the Process line expanded. Sad to see the Cadebra model go….but thats how Kona does it….design….build….move in. Specialized founder Mike Sinyard famously said “Innovate or Die”.
he’s right.
I’ve already been asked for my picks from the 2014 Kona line.
They are…..
The Process 134 Deluxe or regular model
Plenty of XC/AM travel…good for Park City or Moab. 650B wheels. Slack enough to bomb, tight enough to fly uphill.
And, if you want more XC…do the 29er Process 111. Straight AM, the Process 153.
On the Road, the Zone Two is my pick.
Deda carbon, room for 28c tires. A fast bike that can do an amateur race….and be comfortable packing on 1000′s of miles.
And you all know my fondness for the Rove….now there is a Ti Rove.
Thats right. There will be a larger report Mid August when I return from the land of Fern trees and Brad Oppedal….for now, check out the Kona site and go ride.

I finally caught an episode of the tour on Sunday….and it was marvelous.
Very exciting to see Colombian star Nairo Quintana ride strong and confident for a young man. Watching him work the field is like watching a bull fighter.

In domestic good naturedness, I hope that everybody had a nice Independence Day.

Hopefully you all took your medicine.
As directed….right?

Back to news from a-far. The Surly crew is in Japan.

I’d personally like to wish a very happy birthday to His Holiness, the Dali Lama.

Efficient Velo Tools LLC (EVT) designs, manufactures and distributes our own line of US made industrial-style bicycle shop tools. Our tools reflect precision, workmanship and ruggedness simply not found in our competitors’ products.

EVT was established in 1999 by Brett Flemming. Brett started his bicycle industry career in in 1979 at the age of 17 as a mechanic at Albrecht Cycle Shop in Sioux City, IA. By 1998 Brett was the General Service Manager at the Bike Gallery in Portland, OR. With 35 mechanics under his supervision, Brett had become a master mechanic and a hobby shop machinist. Brett used his metal machining and welding skills to support the bicycle service department by making shims, bushings, small hard-to-find parts and his first marketed shop tool, the “Offset Velo Clamp” among other things.

Bike Gallery had a policy that mechanics were to own their own tools, which they support with an annual stipend. Shops Brett had worked for previously provided tools to their mechanics. He decided that if he was going to put money into bicycle tools, he wasn’t going to buy tools that were simply, to his eyes and sense of touch, inadequate. In the beginning, Brett tried to get the attention of the leading industry toolmakers with his “Offset Velo Clamp,” and the knowledge that bicycles being clamped by their frame tubes was an obsolete idea. Needless to say, his input fell on deaf ears. He decided to design and build his own tools, better tools. With this goal in mind as a hobby-machinist in 1999, Brett became serious about his hobby and embarked on a journey to become the accomplished machinist he is today. With his position in one of the busiest
bicycle service operations in the industry, Brett had a perfect test bed for this new brand of tooling.

In 2003 Brett went to Japan as a member of the Shimano Leadership Development Program via Bike Gallery and visited the factories and facilities of Shimano Industrial Corporation. There he developed relationships with Shimano engineers,
including Yas Nakamura, the inventor of Hyperglide technology. Brett’s fascination with factories hit a new high and his efforts to collect enough tooling to build his own factory escalated.

In 2004 Brett was hired by QBP to present seminars at their Frostbike event. Since 2005 Brett has been delivering “Super Seminars” for the NBDA, and annually hosts one of the most attended seminars at Interbike. Brett regularly provides shop consulting services to bike shops wanting to increase the profitability and efficiency of their service departments.

By 2007 Brett had acquired an extensive home based machine shop which had outgrown his garage. He added a 400 square foot mini-factory onto the side of his suburban Vancouver, WA home. Brett’s tool business was now in full swing and the demand for his tooling made it possible to hire his first part-time employee. Brett’s burgeoning machine tool collection filled his new shop as well as a few large storage units. He was actively collecting tools for the future EVT factory.

As a result of the relationship with Shimano, in 2008 Brett worked under contract with SIC’s tool program. At this time he designed and patented the Shimano TL-RD11 Dropout Alignment Tool. The EVT version of the tool is the Ultra Tru-Arc Derailleur Alignment Gauge.

In 2013, EVT moved to a 2500 square foot factory space in Portland, OR. Now EVT has one full time employee, as well as several part-timers. Certain components machined for EVT by local Portland-area job shops. None of the tools are made offshore, rather, the skilled EVT team personally hand build, fit and test nearly every part of every tool.